News:

"There is a terrible desperation to the increasingly pathetic rationalizations from the climate denial camp. This comes as no surprise if you take the long view; every single undone paradigm in history has died kicking and screaming, and our current petroleum paradigm 🐉🦕🦖 is no different. The trick here is trying to figure out how we all make it to the new ⚡ paradigm without dying ☠️ right along with the old one, kicking, screaming or otherwise." - William Rivers Pitt

While I certainly agree that Oil Producers and the governments they 🐉🦕🦖 have ALWAYS CORRUPTED Their Governments are a pack of profit over planet criminal greedballs doing whatever they can, no matter how environmentally damaging (i.e. STUPID), unprincipled AND ERoEI math challenged, to keep their 😈 UNCOMPETITIVE POLLUTING CRAP PRODUCT in our faces, I have a "renewable energy isn't practical" bone to pick with you.

Hey Steve, do you STILL think 100% Renewable energy is a "pipe dream", as you tirelessly proclaimed for YEARS on this forum?

It's time for you to APOLOGIZE for pushing the erroneous hypothesis that Renewable Enegy would NEVER be price competitive with fossil fuels.

Or, just pretend I did not post this and have no "basis" for my "groundless" assertion.

Easiest Way To Counterattack Russia — Go Electric

June 14th, 2018 by Zachary Shahan

SNIPPET:

Russia is highly dependent on its oil & gas industry. Its economy is already quite weak and its people suffer under a low quality of life as a result, but it’ll get worse if Russia’s oil & gas business is harmed. And, more importantly for the Russian oligarchs running the show over there, it gets much worse for them if they can’t hoard another billion or 10 from oil & gas sales.

Put your own sanctions on Russia, as well as on the sketchy, corrupt, humanity-threatening work of US oil & gas companies, European oil & gas companies, Saudi Arabia, etc.

Lay a smackdown on these anti-social jacktards to the greatest degree you personally can. Go electric.

The new Nissan LEAF doesn’t get a ton of attention or love. It was born in the shadow of the Tesla Model 3, and that’s a big shadow. But it’s a few leaps above the original LEAF, and that model is still the most common plug-in car on the planet as far as I’ve seen.

But the relative lack of hype and PR doesn’t mean the new LEAF isn’t selling. In fact, in Europe, there were more than 37,000 orders in 8 months. Nissan recently highlighted that there’s “one new Nissan LEAF car sold every 10 minutes across Europe.” Furthermore, the 100,000th European Nissan LEAF found its home a couple of weeks ago.

“Globally, over 320,000 Nissan LEAFs have been sold, making it the most sold EV in the world.” That’s impressive, but could the LEAF see that many more in a few years with the 2018 LEAF, 2019 LEAF, and 2020 LEAF? Could the company average 4,000 a month in Europe and another 4,000 a month in the rest of the world? That seems do-able. Could the LEAF average 10,000 sales a month globally, leading to 360,000 sales in 3 years?

I did ask Nissan about its expectations for European, US, and global sales. I’ll update this article when I get a response.

Susana de Mena, of Madrid, the 100,000th buyer of a Nissan LEAF in Europe, said, “I’ve spent two years trying to find an electric car. I knew it would be a Nissan!

“When I saw there was a brand-new model of the LEAF, there were no doubts in my mind it would be the perfect fit. My husband and I agreed that the quality, price and specification made it second-to-none.

“We are very conscious that we must respect and protect the environment, so we knew we’d want to go 100% electric. On top of this, an electric car lets us get to the very centre of Madrid when ordinary vehicles can sometimes be restricted due to pollution issues.”

Of course, the LEAF benefits from the many, many advantages of electric cars. It also comes in at a more competitive price than most and the new LEAF has a respectable 150 miles (240 km) of range that shouldn’t have trouble getting the job done. It’s also on the top of the line with regards to Nissan tech.

The LEAF is the first European model to offer ProPILOT and ProPILOT Park technologies, which are akin to Tesla’s Autopilot suite of semi-autonomous driving support.

It also had e-Pedal, which appears to be the most advanced regenerative braking setup in a consumer car. With one-pedal driving being one of drivers’ favorite benefits of electric driving, it’s clear that Nissan got the note from early adopters, stepped it up a notch, and is eager to tell the world.

“Much more than just a 100% electric vehicle, the LEAF is a whole new driving experience, designed to move people with greater exhilaration, confidence and connection to the world around them. The LEAF is the embodiment of Nissan Intelligent Mobility, helping to pioneer a future which brings together intelligent power, intelligent drive and intelligent integration.”

Gareth Dunsmore, Electric Vehicle Director, Nissan Europe, explained, “For us it’s no surprise that the Nissan LEAF is the world’s best-selling electric vehicle. We have been developing our electric vehicle mass-market offering for longer than any other brand and are proud to bring an affordable, visionary car to customers across Europe. In less than 10 years, we managed to make electric vehicle a mass market reality. This milestone proves once again that our Nissan Intelligent Mobility vision is embraced by our customers who believe in a more confident, more exciting, and more connected future.” Well, what do you expect to hear from Nissan’s top EV guy — self-criticism?

“European Nissan LEAF customers have now driven over 2 billion kilometres and saved over 300,000 tonnes of CO2,” Nissan adds. “They also boast a 92% customer satisfaction rate – more than any other Nissan model.”

The new Nissan LEAF doesn’t get a ton of attention or love. It was born in the shadow of the Tesla Model 3, and that’s a big shadow. But it’s a few leaps above the original LEAF, and that model is still the most common plug-in car on the planet as far as I’ve seen.

But the relative lack of hype and PR doesn’t mean the new LEAF isn’t selling. In fact, in Europe, there were more than 37,000 orders in 8 months. Nissan recently highlighted that there’s “one new Nissan LEAF car sold every 10 minutes across Europe.” Furthermore, the 100,000th European Nissan LEAF found its home a couple of weeks ago.

“Globally, over 320,000 Nissan LEAFs have been sold, making it the most sold EV in the world.” That’s impressive, but could the LEAF see that many more in a few years with the 2018 LEAF, 2019 LEAF, and 2020 LEAF? Could the company average 4,000 a month in Europe and another 4,000 a month in the rest of the world? That seems do-able. Could the LEAF average 10,000 sales a month globally, leading to 360,000 sales in 3 years?

I did ask Nissan about its expectations for European, US, and global sales. I’ll update this article when I get a response.

Susana de Mena, of Madrid, the 100,000th buyer of a Nissan LEAF in Europe, said, “I’ve spent two years trying to find an electric car. I knew it would be a Nissan!

“When I saw there was a brand-new model of the LEAF, there were no doubts in my mind it would be the perfect fit. My husband and I agreed that the quality, price and specification made it second-to-none.

“We are very conscious that we must respect and protect the environment, so we knew we’d want to go 100% electric. On top of this, an electric car lets us get to the very centre of Madrid when ordinary vehicles can sometimes be restricted due to pollution issues.”

Of course, the LEAF benefits from the many, many advantages of electric cars. It also comes in at a more competitive price than most and the new LEAF has a respectable 150 miles (240 km) of range that shouldn’t have trouble getting the job done. It’s also on the top of the line with regards to Nissan tech.

The LEAF is the first European model to offer ProPILOT and ProPILOT Park technologies, which are akin to Tesla’s Autopilot suite of semi-autonomous driving support.

It also had e-Pedal, which appears to be the most advanced regenerative braking setup in a consumer car. With one-pedal driving being one of drivers’ favorite benefits of electric driving, it’s clear that Nissan got the note from early adopters, stepped it up a notch, and is eager to tell the world.

“Much more than just a 100% electric vehicle, the LEAF is a whole new driving experience, designed to move people with greater exhilaration, confidence and connection to the world around them. The LEAF is the embodiment of Nissan Intelligent Mobility, helping to pioneer a future which brings together intelligent power, intelligent drive and intelligent integration.”

Gareth Dunsmore, Electric Vehicle Director, Nissan Europe, explained, “For us it’s no surprise that the Nissan LEAF is the world’s best-selling electric vehicle. We have been developing our electric vehicle mass-market offering for longer than any other brand and are proud to bring an affordable, visionary car to customers across Europe. In less than 10 years, we managed to make electric vehicle a mass market reality. This milestone proves once again that our Nissan Intelligent Mobility vision is embraced by our customers who believe in a more confident, more exciting, and more connected future.” Well, what do you expect to hear from Nissan’s top EV guy — self-criticism?

“European Nissan LEAF customers have now driven over 2 billion kilometres and saved over 300,000 tonnes of CO2,” Nissan adds. “They also boast a 92% customer satisfaction rate – more than any other Nissan model.”

yup the leaf and the bolt are both eating tesla's lunch. Add on the Volt and BMW's entry the market is growing fast. We have a client who has a bolt and absolutely loves it. We installed a 20 amp plug that runs off their solar and a 40 amp plug off the grid (they are grid zero so they can't sell back. When its sunny they use the auxiliary charger off solar when they plan a road trip they use the grid the night before. So far they have used the grid twice in 3 months. I'm quite proud of that one it was my work around for solar car charging off grid.

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Leges Sine Moribus VanaeFaith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone.

On June 15, Micheal Morris, a television director, was driving his Tesla Model S in West Hollywood, California, when another motorist warned him that smoke was coming from underneath his car. He pulled over and exited the vehicle. His wife, actress Mary McCormack, then took a video of the car as flames burst from underneath. She says the car was being driven normally in traffic and that Autopilot was not involved.

Lieutenant William Nash of the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Department told The Guardian that firefighters were called. They responded to the incident and quickly extinguished the flames. There were no injuries reported. Later, McCormack posted her video to her Twitter account.

Mary McCormack✔@marycmccormack @Tesla This is what happened to my husband and his car today. No accident,out of the blue, in traffic on Santa Monica Blvd. Thank you to the kind couple who flagged him down and told him to pull over. And thank god my three little girls weren’t in the car with him

Okay, some of you out there are asking, “Why is this news?” Good question. Here’s the answer: This is news because it is on the front page of The Guardian‘s US news feed at 6:30 am on a Sunday morning.

According to the National Fire Prevention Association, in 2015, there were 174,000 gasoline vehicle fires in America. 445 people died as a result of those fires, and 1,550 were injured. My trusty Radio Shack calculator says 174,000 fires translates into 476 per day. Yet none of those made The Guardian‘s news feed as far as we’ve seen. The news is: this fire made the news.

The reason this story made the news is because the media considers Tesla fires of significant interest to the community but ignores fires in conventional cars. Fear is a big motivator of human behavior.If people fear electric cars, they won’t buy them in the quantities needed to drive the EV revolution forward.

Don’t think for a minute traditional car companies 🐉🦕🦖 aren’t loving anything that will slow the progress of that revolution and do whatever they can 👹 to exploit such incidents whenever possible. Those folks buy hundreds of millions of dollars worth of advertising every year. What they say and do matters hugely to the people who receive all that money.

Elon Musk’s empire — and by extension the entire electric car movement — is like an airship kept aloft by the hopes and prayers of the faithful. If all those good feelings were to somehow evaporate, the whole thing could crashing down, and then we could all get back to buying battalions of pickup trucks from General Motors, Ford, and Dodge the way good Americans 🐉🦕🦖😈 are supposed to do.

One bit of good news is that the fire department in West Hollywood was able to extinguish the blaze in short order without drama. Sometimes battery fires can take a long time to put out. In a statement, Tesla said this was “an extraordinarily unusual occurrence.” The company has begun an investigation.

Battery fires are scary and are one of the reasons why researchers around the world are working feverishly to develop solid-state batteries that will be less likely to overheat and catch fire.Perhaps one day, the news will be that there is no news about battery fires 🔥 or gasoline fires🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 to report.

The video from Mary McCormack is now available on YouTube, where it has garnered this snarky comment — “That car has Tesla’s proprietary flamethrower technology,😈 ” which is pretty darn funny when you think about it. That’s all the exploding battery news for today. We now return you to your regular programming, already in progress.

Editor’s note: I’d also add that this is news because almost everything Tesla does is news. People, and thus media agencies, are obsessed with Tesla. It is a fascinating and important company in many respects. Competitors are bitter about all the frivolous good press Tesla gets, while Elon Musk and Tesla are often upset about frivolous or misguided negative press Tesla gets. The bottom line is that Tesla gets a ton of press, so we can only expect both positive and negative.

Additionally, electric cars are still novel to many people and he market is growing fast. It would be much cooler if the press had the sense to more frequently and intelligently cover the 30 or so benefits of electric cars, but hey, unusual fires 🔥 get more clicks 😈. We knew that already.

On June 15, Micheal Morris, a television director, was driving his Tesla Model S in West Hollywood, California, when another motorist warned him that smoke was coming from underneath his car. He pulled over and exited the vehicle. His wife, actress Mary McCormack, then took a video of the car as flames burst from underneath. She says the car was being driven normally in traffic and that Autopilot was not involved.

Lieutenant William Nash of the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Department told The Guardian that firefighters were called. They responded to the incident and quickly extinguished the flames. There were no injuries reported. Later, McCormack posted her video to her Twitter account.

Mary McCormack✔@marycmccormack @Tesla This is what happened to my husband and his car today. No accident,out of the blue, in traffic on Santa Monica Blvd. Thank you to the kind couple who flagged him down and told him to pull over. And thank god my three little girls weren’t in the car with him

Okay, some of you out there are asking, “Why is this news?” Good question. Here’s the answer: This is news because it is on the front page of The Guardian‘s US news feed at 6:30 am on a Sunday morning.

According to the National Fire Prevention Association, in 2015, there were 174,000 gasoline vehicle fires in America. 445 people died as a result of those fires, and 1,550 were injured. My trusty Radio Shack calculator says 174,000 fires translates into 476 per day. Yet none of those made The Guardian‘s news feed as far as we’ve seen. The news is: this fire made the news.

The reason this story made the news is because the media considers Tesla fires of significant interest to the community but ignores fires in conventional cars. Fear is a big motivator of human behavior.If people fear electric cars, they won’t buy them in the quantities needed to drive the EV revolution forward.

Don’t think for a minute traditional car companies 🐉🦕🦖 aren’t loving anything that will slow the progress of that revolution and do whatever they can 👹 to exploit such incidents whenever possible. Those folks buy hundreds of millions of dollars worth of advertising every year. What they say and do matters hugely to the people who receive all that money.

Elon Musk’s empire — and by extension the entire electric car movement — is like an airship kept aloft by the hopes and prayers of the faithful. If all those good feelings were to somehow evaporate, the whole thing could crashing down, and then we could all get back to buying battalions of pickup trucks from General Motors, Ford, and Dodge the way good Americans 🐉🦕🦖😈 are supposed to do.

One bit of good news is that the fire department in West Hollywood was able to extinguish the blaze in short order without drama. Sometimes battery fires can take a long time to put out. In a statement, Tesla said this was “an extraordinarily unusual occurrence.” The company has begun an investigation.

Battery fires are scary and are one of the reasons why researchers around the world are working feverishly to develop solid-state batteries that will be less likely to overheat and catch fire.Perhaps one day, the news will be that there is no news about battery fires 🔥 or gasoline fires🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 to report.

The video from Mary McCormack is now available on YouTube, where it has garnered this snarky comment — “That car has Tesla’s proprietary flamethrower technology,😈 ” which is pretty darn funny when you think about it. That’s all the exploding battery news for today. We now return you to your regular programming, already in progress.

Editor’s note: I’d also add that this is news because almost everything Tesla does is news. People, and thus media agencies, are obsessed with Tesla. It is a fascinating and important company in many respects. Competitors are bitter about all the frivolous good press Tesla gets, while Elon Musk and Tesla are often upset about frivolous or misguided negative press Tesla gets. The bottom line is that Tesla gets a ton of press, so we can only expect both positive and negative.

Additionally, electric cars are still novel to many people and he market is growing fast. It would be much cooler if the press had the sense to more frequently and intelligently cover the 30 or so benefits of electric cars, but hey, unusual fires 🔥 get more clicks 😈. We knew that already.

Germany’s largest carmaker VW has announced that it will invest 100 million US dollars in a US company that specialises in the production of “super batteries,” Hanna Decker writes in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

The company named QuantumScape utilises solid state battery technology, which in about 15 years could replace the currently dominant lithium-ion batteries, Decker says.

The energy density of e-car batteries, and therefore also the range of these vehicles, could be doubled with the new technology, said VW research head Axel Heinrich. VW and QuantumScape have agreed to launch serial production of solid state batteries by 2025, Decker adds.

Agelbert NOTE: Excuse me if I appear a bit suspicious about VW's motives. By 2025, any manufacturer that has not transitioned completely to EVs will probably go bankrupt. Putting the pollution issue aside, as if we actually could, the internal combustion engine simply cannot compete with an electric motor and battery pack in efficiency. Once mass production of EVs is routine, the cost cutting benefits of manufacturing vehicles with a small number of moving parts will make EVs so cheap that buying a gas guzzler will be a pollution lover's luxury item.

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Leges Sine Moribus VanaeFaith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone.

The International Energy Agency forecast in its latest Global Electric Vehicles Outlook that the number of plug-in electric cars will triple in the next two years.

More than one million plug-in cars were sold in 2017, so the total global fleet exceeded 3 million (54% up year-over-year).

IEA sees strong policy and falling battery costs as the main forces that drives plug-in sales to new record levels every year.

Read Also – Plug-In Electric Car Sales Hit 1,224,000 in 2017

Depending on the scenario, the number of plug-in cars could reach 125 to 220 million by 2030.

he biggest plug-in car market is of course China (580,000 cars in 2017, up 72% year-over-year), but nothing compares to the market share in Nordic countries.

Quote

“Nordic countries remain leaders in market share. Electric cars accounted for 39% of new car sales in Norway, making it the world leader in electric vehicle (EV) market share. In Iceland, new EV sales were 12% of the total while the share reached 6% in Sweden. Germany and Japan also saw strong growth, with sales more than doubling in both countries from their 2016 levels.”

The number of publicly accessible charging stations worldwide was ~430,000 at the end of 2017, according to the report.

Bloomberg’s review of the report notes four major points:

֍ China will remain biggest market

֍ The oil market finally will start to feel the demand displaced by EVs

֍ Governments will recognize falling taxes from road fuel (up to $42 billion by 2030) although we believe it will be offset by higher taxes and higher price of the vehicles

֍ There will be need to build at least 10 more battery factories, of a gigafactory size, by 2025 to meet the demand of nearly 800 GWh annually.

“Electric mobility is not limited to cars. In 2017, the stock of electric buses rose to 370,000 from 345,000 in 2016, and electric two-wheelers reached 250 million. The electrification of these modes of transport has been driven almost entirely by China, which accounts for more than 99% of both electric bus and two-wheeler stock, though registrations in Europe and India are also growing.

Charging infrastructure is also keeping pace. In 2017, the number of private chargers at homes and workplaces was estimated at almost 3 million worldwide. In addition, there were about 430,000 publicly accessible chargers worldwide in 2017, a quarter of which were fast chargers. Fast chargers are especially important in densely populated cities and serve an essential role in boosting the appeal of EVs by enabling long-distance travel.

The growth of EVs has largely been driven by government policy, including public procurement programmes, financial incentives reducing the cost of purchase of EVs, tightened fuel-economy standards and regulations on the emission of local pollutants, low- and zero-emission vehicle mandates and a variety of local measures, such as restrictions on the circulation of vehicles based on their pollutant emission performances.

The rapid uptake of EVs has also been helped by progress made in recent years to improve the performance and reduce the costs of lithium-ion batteries. However, further battery cost reductions and performance improvements are essential to improve the appeal of EVs. These are achievable with a combination of improved chemistries, increased production scale and battery sizes, according to the report. Further improvements are possible with the transition to technologies beyond lithium-ion.

Innovations in battery chemistry will also be needed to maintain growth as there are supply issues with core elements that make up lithium-ion batteries, such as nickel, lithium and cobalt. The supply of cobalt is particularly subject to risks as almost 60% of the global production of cobalt is currently concentrated in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Additionally, the capacity to refine and process raw cobalt is highly concentrated, with China controlling 90% of refining capacity. Even accounting for ongoing developments in battery chemistry, cobalt demand for EVs is expected to be between 10 and 25 times higher than current levels by 2030.

The report notes that ensuring the increased uptake of EVs while meeting social and environmental sustainability goals requires the adoption and enforcement of minimum standards on labour and environmental conditions. The environmental sustainability of batteries also requires the improvement of end-of-life and material recycling processes.

Looking forward, supportive policies and cost reductions are likely to lead to continued significant growth in the EV market. In the IEA’s New Policies Scenario, which takes into account current and planned policies, the number of electric cars is projected to reach 125 million units by 2030. Should policy ambitions rise even further to meet climate goals and other sustainability targets, as in the EV30@30 Scenario, the number of electric cars on the road could be as high as 220 million in 2030.”

In March 2018, the company contracted the American Bureau of Shipping to class the SEACOR Maya as the first OSV in the Gulf of Mexico to operate using hybrid power. Following the successful modification to hybrid lithium battery power propulsion and successful sea trials in May, the vessel was issued its Interim Class Certificate from the ABS with additional notation BATTERY-Li, the first ever ABS OSV to have this notation.

SEACOR Maya is currently operated by MexMar, SEACOR Marine’s joint venture in Mexico.

“The successful installation of a hybrid power solution along with the first ever ABS OSV BATTERY-Li notation is a big milestone for our company,” said John Gellert, SEACOR Marine’s Chief Executive Officer. “We have long believed that cutting edge hybrid power technology has the potential to improve vessel efficiency, while reducing fuel consumption and emissions by as much as 20 percent. Early indications from sea trials of SEACOR Maya put us well within reach of this target and validate the success of our investment.”

“The new hybrid lithium battery system will also help us improve safety, drive energy efficiencies and reduce our overall environmental impact. As governments tighten emissions standards, this technology will be a key competitive differentiator, leaving us well placed to take advantage of an upturn in the market,” Gellert added.

SEACOR Marine has also engaged with ABS to provide the additional BATTERY-Li notation on three additional OSVs operated by MexMar, including SEACOR Azteca, SEACOR Warrior, and SEACOR Viking.

The vessels are expected to be upgraded to a similar battery system as SEACOR Maya with the upgrade expected to be completed by September 2018. SEACOR Marine will also install the technology onboard six vessels under construction at COSCO shipyard in Guangdong.

The first two vessels are due for delivery by the end of 2018, with the remaining vessels set for delivery in 2020.

The lithium-ion-based systems for all four vessels, called the Orca Energy Storage Systems, is supplied by Corvus Energy. Kongsberg Maritime designed the supply and integration of the hybrid power into the vessels’ control, power monitoring, and dynamic positioning systems. Corvus and Kongsberg are contracted on all four of vessels operated by MexMar as well.

In March 2018, the company contracted the American Bureau of Shipping to class the SEACOR Maya as the first OSV in the Gulf of Mexico to operate using hybrid power. Following the successful modification to hybrid lithium battery power propulsion and successful sea trials in May, the vessel was issued its Interim Class Certificate from the ABS with additional notation BATTERY-Li, the first ever ABS OSV to have this notation.

SEACOR Maya is currently operated by MexMar, SEACOR Marine’s joint venture in Mexico.

“The successful installation of a hybrid power solution along with the first ever ABS OSV BATTERY-Li notation is a big milestone for our company,” said John Gellert, SEACOR Marine’s Chief Executive Officer. “We have long believed that cutting edge hybrid power technology has the potential to improve vessel efficiency, while reducing fuel consumption and emissions by as much as 20 percent. Early indications from sea trials of SEACOR Maya put us well within reach of this target and validate the success of our investment.”

“The new hybrid lithium battery system will also help us improve safety, drive energy efficiencies and reduce our overall environmental impact. As governments tighten emissions standards, this technology will be a key competitive differentiator, leaving us well placed to take advantage of an upturn in the market,” Gellert added.

SEACOR Marine has also engaged with ABS to provide the additional BATTERY-Li notation on three additional OSVs operated by MexMar, including SEACOR Azteca, SEACOR Warrior, and SEACOR Viking.

The vessels are expected to be upgraded to a similar battery system as SEACOR Maya with the upgrade expected to be completed by September 2018. SEACOR Marine will also install the technology onboard six vessels under construction at COSCO shipyard in Guangdong.

The first two vessels are due for delivery by the end of 2018, with the remaining vessels set for delivery in 2020.

The lithium-ion-based systems for all four vessels, called the Orca Energy Storage Systems, is supplied by Corvus Energy. Kongsberg Maritime designed the supply and integration of the hybrid power into the vessels’ control, power monitoring, and dynamic positioning systems. Corvus and Kongsberg are contracted on all four of vessels operated by MexMar as well.

I don't know if I should cheer or cry... They will produce less emissions but that in turn will help their bottom line making servicing oil rigs in the gulf more profitable...Ugh!

Well said. It seems the Fossil fuelers everywhere (see Saudis buying lots of solar panels to use solar power to help pump oil out of the ground ) see his new "green" technology as a tool to increase their profit over planet bottom line. 😈

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Leges Sine Moribus VanaeFaith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone.

It appears that VW/Audi is moving forward with their charging stations placement here in N.A.

That's no small undertaking. Perhaps VW will take over all the stations when the Musk-Mobile hits a brick walland closes it's door. I know for damn sure that the Trump regime won't be dole-ing out funds for a bail-out.

We shall see. Hydrogen powered cars are still a luxury vehicle for the rich, as the Tesla Model S (and too many of the Model 3 dual motor models!).

I won't hold my breath waiting for Tesla to crater. That said, the onslaught to ICE car sales coming from SEVERAL BYD cheap and reliable EVs coming to the USA (that Warren Buffet is betting on) will definitely smack Tesla's bottom line too. Musk wants too much money for his EVs. If his profit margin is so thin that he cannot compete with BYD's EVs, never mind the Volt or the Bolt, Tesla will be absorbed by BYD or GM.

You heard it first here.

The guy to watch here is Brooks Agnew & his little pick em up.I haven't looked at his stuff in awhile, have you ?

Can you imagine the nice carbon fiber luv shack you could buck up for the back 2/3rds of this rig.I haven't seen any new newz on this rig in awhile though.

Brooks puts Musk to shame. If you research his history, he's enroute to inner Earthby way of the Russian side of the top entrance. It seems that U.S.A. Inc. won't grant him visa status, hah.... No surprise there.

Az, I am of the studied opinion that the Earth ain't hollow. Sure, one can speculate that there may be a lot of something in the center that has some pockets due to some weird gravitational anomallies that exist at the center of mass that science has not discovered yet, but nuttin'can live below the lithosphere, as far as Im concerned. The rock eating bacteria critters that they have discovered in deep, deep places are still part of the biosphere. Even they cannot live above a certain temperature, which, by the way, gets too high even before the outer reaches of the lithosphere.

The folowing graphic is, IMHO, fairly accurate. Notice how far up the lithosphere is compared to all that matter below it. We've never gotten through it, you know.

If that Brooks pickup truck is powered with fork lift Trojan lead acid batteries, as it appears to me, the range is about the length of an average 18 hole golf course. That ain't competition for Musk. It wouldn't look too pretty on a golf course, either.

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Leges Sine Moribus VanaeFaith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone.

That was a mule test vehicle.That is why I brought the company up. I haven't seen any new newz on production or anything.Usually there's some kind of marketing build up prior to release.

I checked "PhD" Dr. Brooks Agnew out in regard to electric vehicles and ignored the other way out stuff he is into.

Quote

According to some sources he's involved with an alternative fuel company (Green Star USA). In different places he's described as president of two different electric vehicle companies: Global Green Cars, Inc. (although the URL given for that company(http://www.ggci-us.com/) appears to be defunct, and that info may be old), and Vision Motorcars.

This is slightly off-topic, but I did want to share that it appears, from what I read, that the Chevy Volt is now approaching the point at which Federal tax credits will be phased out. As you might be aware, the current subsidy for this type of eV will be phased out once GM reaches the milestone of 200,000 total Volts sold since the car debuted.

In fact, this might well be the very last month that Volt buyers will get the full $7500 off their tax bill. It appears that this quarter is the last quarter for the full tax break, and buyers in the 4th quarter 2018 will only get half, and that the subsidy will cease in 2019.

Tesla also is about to lose the tax incentive. It looks like Leaf buyers will still get the full benefit until about quarter 1 of 2020.

All the numbers above are estimates, but these sales are being tracked pretty closely by several watchdog groups, and I think the graphic above is fairly accurate about what to expect.

For this reason, I am considering trading my beloved 2014 Volt for a new one, which would give me enough eV range that I'd probably almost never need to pump gas. The new Volts have a battery-only range of 53 miles. My current Volt is supposed to have 35, but I've found 32 is a more real number. Even with only 32 battery miles, most of my commute to work and back is on battery power.

Yes, I know most electricity comes from fossil fuels. But more than 30% of our local power comes from some type of renewable, and it is possible to actually get all your power from renewable sources here now if you are willing to pay an extra premium for it. I just learned about this option, but I think that's right.

Yep. Thanks for the graphic. I expect all those incentives to be gone this year for the Leaf too. People will rush to buy Leaf EVs when they are the only ones left with the incentive. After that, the only prayer EVs have in Trumpland is if BYD booster Warren Buffet can jam a bunch of Chinese EVs down Trumpy's throat.

Otherwise, all the stops are coming out to strangle EVs in the USA on behalf of the unavoidable gasolene product of refinery output. It's about preventing fossil fueler bankruptcies National Security, of course. :evil4:

Looking on the "bright side", I suppose then I might even be able to afford to buy a used "no longer made" Model 3 (after Tesla goes bankrupt and is absorbed by GM ) or maybe a used Leaf nobody wants as everyone rushes back to gas guzzling pickup truck heaven. USA! USA!

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Leges Sine Moribus VanaeFaith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone.

This is slightly off-topic, but I did want to share that it appears, from what I read, that the Chevy Volt is now approaching the point at which Federal tax credits will be phased out. As you might be aware, the current subsidy for this type of eV will be phased out once GM reaches the milestone of 200,000 total Volts sold since the car debuted.

In fact, this might well be the very last month that Volt buyers will get the full $7500 off their tax bill. It appears that this quarter is the last quarter for the full tax break, and buyers in the 4th quarter 2018 will only get half, and that the subsidy will cease in 2019.

Tesla also is about to lose the tax incentive. It looks like Leaf buyers will still get the full benefit until about quarter 1 of 2020.

All the numbers above are estimates, but these sales are being tracked pretty closely by several watchdog groups, and I think the graphic above is fairly accurate about what to expect.

For this reason, I am considering trading my beloved 2014 Volt for a new one, which would give me enough eV range that I'd probably almost never need to pump gas. The new Volts have a battery-only range of 53 miles. My current Volt is supposed to have 35, but I've found 32 is a more real number. Even with only 32 battery miles, most of my commute to work and back is on battery power.

Yes, I know most electricity comes from fossil fuels. But more than 30% of our local power comes from some type of renewable, and it is possible to actually get all your power from renewable sources here now if you are willing to pay an extra premium for it. I just learned about this option, but I think that's right.

Yep. Thanks for the graphic. :emthup: I expect all those incentives to be gone this year for the Leaf too. People will rush to buy Leaf EVs when they are the only ones left with the incentive. After that, the only prayer EVs have in Trumpland is if BYD booster Warren Buffet can jam a bunch of Chinese EVs down Trumpy's throat.

Otherwise, all the stops are coming out to strangle EVs in the USA on behalf of the unavoidable gasolene product of refinery output. It's about preventing fossil fueler bankruptcies National Security, of course. :evil4:

Looking on the "bright side", I suppose then I might even be able to afford to buy a used "no longer made" Model 3 (after Tesla goes bankrupt and is absorbed by GM :evil4:) or maybe a used Leaf nobody wants as everyone rushes back to gas guzzling pickup truck heaven. USA! USA!

I expect the newer Leafs to be the kind of car that people hang onto for a long time. I wouldn't be surprised to see a well cared for Leaf outlast a FF car by 3X or 4X in terms of miles and/or years of service, given the superior design. I'd love to have one, or a Bolt even, but the Volt meets my needs here in Texas better.

My wife's brother has had the Leaf for a year or more now, I guess, and seems happy with his choice. But he never needs to take road trips. He drives to the airport and gets on a plane for work travel, just like most tech-y people these days, seems like. He flies to some other city for work, and often only comes home on weekends. His company does databases for governments and non-profits, mainly, from what I understand.

True, EVs are computers on wheels, not so much cars. So, of course, driving them for 500,000 miles or more is logical and expected. All you do is basically change the battery pack avery 150,000 miles or so, depending on the manufacturer. The smart people will hang on to them, unless Trumpy makes it illegal to own one or taxes the living daylights out of owners because they "ain't payin' gasoline tax fer da roads". The Koch crooks are out to destroy EVs. It is prudent to take that threat seriously.

We'll see what happens. With the Trump Fascist pro-fossil fuel Supreme Court out to make "legal" just about any part of Trump's hate filled agenda like the racist travel ban on Moslems, I don't hold out much hope for the progress of clean energy or EVs in the immediate future in this country.

Check out the 'Peak oil ain't there' (so to speak ) thread I started, where Palloy is out to GIT me. I've got some interesting news for him to try to dance around today.

You two are great debaters, but I wish you could keep it a little friendlier.

I know. "Do as I say, not as I do".

I know he can be difficult, but he is a good contributor to our forum.

I don't really want to strike him. I'm all talk. (Well, not always, but most of the time. )

I agree Palloy is a smart cookie. I disagree he is a good debater. He is always looking for some thread derailing excuse to get off the issue he is being querried about. That's a fallacious debating technique. He reminds me a lot of Ashivin, who whould immediatly accuse sombody of "projection" when that somebody exposed his morally bankrupt sophistry.

I will agree with you, however, that the Palloy versus Agelbert shouting match gentlemanly debate attracts lots of beady bubbles. This forum likes that, even if I'll probably die of heart failure in the course of these "debates". It's a tough world.

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Leges Sine Moribus VanaeFaith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone.

A stream of electric vehicles from luxury carmakers will start hitting the market this summer

While Tesla has been the dominant premium electric brand over the past five years, traditional automakers such as BMW, Porsche, and Audi are all about to launch their own version of a high-end EV.

Strict emissions standards which are increasing the cost to develop conventional vehicles is helping drive the trend, as well as plans in China and other European countries to ban traditional gas and diesel vehicles.

“People who buy luxury vehicles have one thing in common — they don’t want to be left behind,” said Scott Keough, the head of Audi of America. (Wall Street Journal $)

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Leges Sine Moribus VanaeFaith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone.